Representative Paul D. Ryan isn't just a Republican congressman
from Wisconsin, a health nut or a deer hunter who makes his own
bratwurst. He is what some small-business owners are calling a "bold"
choice for vice president.

Over the weekend, presumptive Republican presidential candidate
Mitt Romney surprised the public by offering his pick of running
mate: Paul Ryan, a longtime political operative who also serves
as the House Budget Committee chairman. Other politically safer
picks like Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Rob Portman (R., Ohio) had
been seen as front runners.

So far, it appears the choice was a good one -- at least as far
as some small-business owners are concerned. "Politics has
everything to do with business and for those who want to stick to
just business are clueless about the relationship between
government and business," says Michelle Armstrong an
Entrepreneur.com reader. "The team of Romney and Ryan is
brilliant. They will lead America back to greatness."

Though his entrepreneurial
experience is limited -- Ryan spent some time working for his
family's construction business in 1997, for instance -- his
voting record is long. Here, we attempt to parse the parts that
matter most to entrepreneurs and small businesses, as well as
determine whether Rep. Ryan would help small businesses get back
to work.

What will likely get the most attention during the election is
Ryan's budget plan, which he proposed as
head of the budget committee last year. Among other things,
the Tea-Party darling is proposing to trim programs for the
poor -- like food stamps, housing assistance and the
earned-income tax credit -- over the next decade. His plan
would also cut federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid.
Instead, Ryan would offer seniors Medicare vouchers to cover a
portion of their premiums.

He would also make permanent the Bush-era tax cuts, endeavor to
simplify the tax code and trim personal and business taxes. But
perhaps the biggest element within the Ryan budget involves
tackling the ballooning-budget deficit. Ryan's 10-year plan aims
to cut the deficit by $3 trillion more than the President’s budget, while reining in
spending by $5 trillion more than Obama's plan.

"Our budget tackles this crisis head-on by cutting debt as a
share of the economy by roughly 15 percent over the next decade,
putting the nation's finances on a path to balance, and paying
off the debt," wrote Ryan in a March op-ed in The
Wall Street Journal.

The 15-year congressional veteran also has supported a number of
unpopular bills. Among others, there's the bank bailout, or TARP,
and a proposal to privatize Social Security.

In 2010, he also struck down measures intended to help small
businesses by voting 'no' on a bill ( HR 5297 ) that would authorize the Treasury
to lend to community banks. The proposed legislation was
designed to leverage $300 billion in loans to small
businesses.

As far as whether Ryan might help Romney in efforts to make small
businesses thrive again, business groups aren't saying much. "We
don't endorse candidates," says Molly Brogan, a spokeswoman for
the National Small Business Association in Washington D.C. whose
membership is a mix between Republicans, Independents and
Democrats. "Our perspective of picking Chairman Ryan is it sets
the stage for pretty serious discussion on the details of tax
reform and deficit reduction. We think he brings to the table
expertise on taxes and the economy. We haven't endorsed his
specific roadmap, but we haven't opposed it either."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce couched its reaction to Romney's
pick similarly. "The Chamber does not engage in presidential
politics so we are not going to comment on Governor Romney's
selection of Paul Ryan for VP," says Blair Latoff, a spokeswoman
for the Chamber. "We’ve worked with Congressman Ryan on many
important pro-business issues in the past and look forward to
continuing that relationship."

Business owners: What do you think of the choice of
Paul Ryan as Romney's VP? Let us know in the
comments section below.